If there’s one thing that new vegetarians are asked time and time again, it’s “why be a vegetarian?”  The motivation for taking meat out of your diet may be confusing for some people, especially if they aren’t familiar with the wealth of delicious food available to vegetarians.

A lot of vegetarians feel that they have to defend their position when asked “why be a vegetarian?”  This question can sometimes feel almost like an attack on vegetarianism, but most people who ask are genuinely curious as to the motivations behind being a vegetarian.

Meat is Cheap and Tasty!  Why be a Vegetarian When it’s So Expensive?

One of the arguments made against vegetarianism is that it takes a lot of work and thought.  At first glance, it may seem that vegetarians put a lot more work into their diet than meat eaters, but the truth is that they are usually just more careful with their diet and do everything they can to ensure that they are getting balanced nutrition.

A common misconception about vegetarianism is that it’s more expensive to eat foods to take the place of meats.  While it’s true that pre-made packaged meat substitutes can be quite expensive, vegetarian food can be found in bulk for very little money.  Vegetarian staples like rice, oats, beans, and pasta are very inexpensive. 

The cost does go up a bit when you take fresh fruits and vegetables into account, but it is generally accepted as fact that we all need to eat more fruits and vegetables.  Vegetarians don’t eat much more fruits and vegetables than the servings that are recommended for the general meat-eating public.

When you take into account the fact that meat takes many times the amount of resources to produce that crops do, you’ll see that plant foods are actually less expensive to produce.  The artificially low prices of meat in the supermarket and in restaurants are the result of government subsidies that provide farmers with payments to encourage them to produce meat. 

Why Be a Vegetarian When Humans Were Meant to Eat Meat?

While many meat eaters make the argument that humans weren’t made to live without meat in their diets, there is actually plenty of biological evidence to the contrary.  Our bodies more closely resemble the physiology of herbivores than carnivores: our digestive system shows that our optimal food is plant matter, not meat. 

While the human body is capable of digesting meat, eating meat long-term is known to cause many health problems.  High cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis are all directly linked to eating meat.  Although eating meat infrequently does not seem to significantly raise our risk for these maladies, the typical American diet contains so much meat that it effectively poisons our bodies.  Were we designed to be meat eaters?  The evidence suggests that we were not.

Why Be a Vegetarian?  Why Wouldn’t You Be One?

There are even more reasons to be vegetarian, but the most compelling reason is the one that resonates with you personally.  Being a vegetarian means that you are removing your support from an industry that produces more waste than all other American industries combined.  You are standing up in favor of a healthy life and healthy planet, and you are doing a good turn for animal rights.  Being a vegetarian comes with many, many benefits for your physical, emotional, and financial well-being – and no detrimental effects to any of these. 

Tags: Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarian Cooking Methods, Vegetarian Recipes

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